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Author
Topic: I am after YOUR wisdom :) (Read 7386 times)

Some of you will remember me on the old forums. Anyway, went to the doctor today for a referral to get a blood test for gout. I was pretty happy as he said he could take a blood sample then and there. I got talking to him and explained how I will be joining the British Army next year and Ill need some tests done. So that sample is being tested for Hep A/B/C & HIV. I dont think I am going to be able to sleep for a week until the results come back.

God Im pretty damn scared that Im gonna get some bad news. Since my last exposure, I have not had any symptoms of HIV, which might be good, because as you all know many people dont get symptoms at all. Most of you mentioned that the odds will be in my favour as it was a 1 time exposure. Oh dear I hope you are right.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Yea well its only just passed 3 months, so its about time I got tested anyway. I guess I was just scared of a negative result. Well whats done is done, my bloods been drawn and Ill know by next week my results.

Just to inform you a bit, a negative test result is actually what you want. Testing negative means no virus present.

It's good that you're getting this taken care of now. HIV status is not something to guess and worry and wonder about. The odds are very much in your favor that you will test negative from a single exposure.

But you do need to learn from the experience and in the future no matter whom you are with when you have intercourse make sure you are wearing a latex condom. No exceptions and no excuses. A condom is a must everytime.

That's easy done. I have to be on guard for that myself - I can't tell you how many times I've wrote to someone that I was sure their test result would be positive - when I meant negative. I always double check my posts for this mistake because I mean, think of the panic I could cause with that little gem of a typo!

I'm still fully expecting your test results to be negative. And I do mean negative!

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

You can really celebrate your happy test result by committing to always use a condom for intercourse in the future. And that means everytime with no exceptions. It doesn't matter what you think you know about the other person or how great your partner looks. A latex condom everytime is a must!

Gday guys I was on here about a year ago, I dont know if some of you remember me. Anyways I had a possible exposure but all turned out well.

In the last 2 months I have been going to Brothels and I am well aware that legal brothels require girls to get tested and SEX including oral is ALWAYS protected, but that isnt my concern.

3 days ago I ripped a gash on my finger in 2 places terminating jumper wire on an MDF in a telephone exchange, (not a thin cut but not a horrific chunk either. To cut a long story short, the girl I was banging, I fingered with that finger, yes it was the same day, was fairly raw, but no blood, I fingered her for about 1 minute perhaps 2... After it all I had a shower, then when I left the brothel went straight to McDonalds and washed my hands with anti-bacterial soap. The finger was not bleeding at the time.

Now I know what you are thinking. "oh god another dork who didnt read transmission lessons" but I did and I am quite informed, but I have been a very paranoid person my whole life. I do understand that HIV is very unstable in the environment and begins to die off the very second it becomes exposed... I saw a doc the next day and he said low risk.

Im after a simple answer here.....was I at risk? I have read that finger cuts in contact with vaginal fluids pose no risk but It was an open gash rather than a cut... Still no risk?

I've merged your new thread into your original thread - where you should post all your additional thoughts or questions. It helps us to help you when you keep all your additional thoughts or questions in one thread.

If you need help finding your thread when you come here, click on the "Show own posts" link under your name in the left-hand column of any forum page.

Please also read through the Welcome Thread so you can familiarize yourself with our Forum Posting Guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation.

Fingering is not a risk for hiv infection and your case is no different than all the others. No risk.

Keep using condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse and you'll be fine where hiv is concerned.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

And I apologize for not posting in my old thread, I thought it would have been deleted by now.

Can I ask you a question? This is just for personal knowledge.

I dont actually understand how cuts/gashes/missing chunks are at no risk as a means of transmission? Is it because vaginal fluid does not have HIV, or because fingers dont have the required cells for the virus to grab a hold of? Do vaginal fluids with HIV only occur in the cervix?

You already seem to know the answers. The infectious fluid in the vagina is indeed only found in the thick mucus covering of the cervix.

You are also correct about the right type of cells not being present in the type of cut/gash you describe, especially as it was not fresh (as in happened right then) and it was not actively bleeding. You don't need to worry about hiv in this instance.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Hi guys sorry to be a pain in the arse but im in panic mode again (and again, probably over nothing)....I appear to have a swollen lymph node under my chin right in the middle of all sides of the jaw. As swollen nodes CAN be a symptom im panicking. Surely, if one lymph node under the chin was to swell up, then the ones in my neck and possibly arms would too? Or could it be possible that I may have caught an STD?

Also, Anne said that the hands/ fingers dont have the required cells that HIV NEED to infect, what cells are they that the fingers lack? Mucous Membranes? This is just for personal knowledge, if I can get a few answers on here to understand a bit more about how HIV infects, then I can reassure myself that I was at NO risk.

Lymph glands swell for all sorts of reasons. Keep your hands off yours and show them to a doctor if you're worried.

I'm going to give you an excellent explanation for the finger thing, written by jkinatl:

jkinatl2Wednesday November 30, 2005 10:06 PM

Thing is, it is not enough for HIV infected blood or fluids to enter your bloodstream in order to infect.

In fingering, only menstrual blood carries any significantly infectious fluids. This is because the vaginal secretions found in the vaginal walls and the opening of the vagina are relatively uninfectious. it is the cervical fluids, deeper in the vaginal area, which pose a greater infectivity risk due to a higher concentration of active HIV.

Note I use the term ACTIVE and not alive. technically, HIV is not alive. It cannot reproduce on it's own. It requires a very specific type of white blood cell to infect with it's genetic material and essentially turn into an HIV producing factory. These receptive cells are commonly found in the urethra, in the dendritic cells under an uncircumsized foreskin, in the anus, and in the vagina. To a far lessor degree, there are some in the tonsil area as well.

So we have established that even if infectious fluids got into a cut in your finger, they would have to travel through your bloodstream and encounter one of these receptive cells. Not as likely event, at all. To the point where forcing it to happen in a lab using monkeys/primates and SHIV is largely unsuccessful. In a petri dish? Perhaps. In a bipedal organism? Difficult, if not impossible to achieve.

Knowing this, and keeping in mind that the virus constantly mutates, it is not a particularly efficient virus. Most of the mutations are worthless, lacking one protein or another which makes it basically inactive, unviable. It is Darwinism at a miscroscopic scale, and greatly advanced.

See, the perfect HIV, the "goal," if you will, of HIV is to infect a host and reproduce and spread without killing the host. Not due to any altruism on it's part, but a dead host can't infect others. This is why outbreaks of Ebola and Marberg viruses are almost always brief and contained. it would take much engineering to reproduce a species-killer like "The Stand." It would involve a virus behaving in a totally different fashion than any other.

So the odds of an active, VIABLE viral particle finding it's way INTO your bloodstream, finding a receptive white blood cell (dendritic and T cells) and then successfully injecting it with it's genetic material - through a cut in the FINGER which almost instantly seals itself from external danger, and which bombards the area with elements specifically dsigned to protect and heal the skin - is purely in the realm of the theoretical. Why is there so little research? because it can't be forced to happen with any regularity in a lab, in a primate, in a monkey.

It has never been documented to happen. In the real world, the one we live in, it does not happen. It is hell on wheels to even make something like that occur in a carefully monitored laboratory. Even a petri dish is no friend to HIV.

Why do some doctors and scientists still caution? Because people mired in academia are rarely in touch with the actual, quantifiable world. The notion of "theoretical risk" and 'actual risk" are merged into a single hysterical message. There is a theoretical risk that a planet-destroying asteroid will smash the earth. There is a theoretical risk that our sun will explode. I think you get my intent here.

Let me recap:

Vaginal secretions: extremely unlikely to infect even if exposed to dendritic cells. Thus, cunnilingus is not considered a viable HIV risk.

Fingers: self sealing, and not containing receptive cells which HIV needs in order to infect.

Brothel: in western and industrialized nations, sex workers have a relatively low HIv rate compared to sex workers in Africa and other industrialized nations. However, even an HIv positive female is not going to have enough active viral particles in her vaginal secretions to present a risk to a finger or a tongue.

I hope this made sense. If you wish, I can expound and expand.

Fingering is not a risk for HIV, and PEP/testing is not warranted for such an activity.

That's not me talking, it's the science and the epidemiology talking.

You haven't had a risk.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

I think Im cursed. Last night I was trying to do the deed with a work collegue, I could not get it in, it was a mission....she bled. We tried it twice, she bled twice,which led me to believe she is a virgin due to the fact that she did not want to be on top and everytime my head was inside she kept moving away as if in pain.....however she claims she isnt and claimed it may have been because of an abortion months ago, or menstruation or quite possibly an STD which is making her bleed....I have no effing Idea.

Now naturally, im paranoid that she has HIV and because of what Anne posted (menstruation blood is highly infectious, it may just have been enough...as the blood was also on my fingers and hands, which is covered in cuts due to my job).

I did wash the blood off of my hands within 5 minutes or less on each occasion.

I wore a condom on each occasion, I dont think I saw any blood on the head of my penis.

Ive read on here many times that HIV infection occurs INSIDE the body, is there an exception to this scenario? I did not finger her, (that I can remember), so even IF it was menstruation and IF that menstruation was HIV infected, would I need to have been fingering her with a fresh open bleeding cut to pose any risk? Does the fact that the blood was exposed to the atmosphere and my hand wasnt inside of her body pretty much guarantee a no-risk situation?

Fucking hell.....is this a sign that im not supposed to have sex ever again?? Bad thing after bad thing keeps happening? I try and be safe but shit just keeps happening?!?!?!!?

Yes I did indeed, both times. As I said I am pretty sure no blood got onto the head of my penis. But also as I said Im worried that if she was HIV positive her blood got into cuts on my hands, because menstrual fluid can indeed be very infectious, as Ive read.

I may just be paranoid, she probably was a virgin which accounts for the blood. I have a rotten habit of thinking the worst ALL the time.

Im declaring myself celibate until I find a girlfriend who I KNOW is STD/HIV free. I cant deal with this anxiety anymore its depressing.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Just want to pick some brains about my latest incident. Ill keep it short an sweet.

One night drunken stand with a girl I met in a club 2 nights ago.

That night, we had sex once, and not for long. I initially fucked her without a condom for no more than 2 mins, but lets just say 5 mins to allow for drunken distortion of time, then I when I realised that what I was doing was incredibly stupid, I put on a condom.

Same again next morning, unprotected for a couple of mins. I dont have a big cock, thus I probably didnt go deep enough to get around the cervix area (which holds the most infectious fluids).

I have been lead to believe in the past that very short exposure as an insertive into the vagina poses a small risk, is this true? Are the odds in my favour even assuming she was even positive?

Yes, the odds are in your favour even if she does in fact have hiv. However, this was not without risk and you need to test.

The earliest you should test is at six weeks, as the vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by this time. A six week negative must be confirmed at the three month point, but is highly unlikely to change.

You need to learn from this and use condoms, every time, no exceptions.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Gahh, I hate this. Just when i was about to get over this whole issue, i have a dream last night about me testing positive, and needless to say, im worried again.

I understand i still did take a risk having unprotected intercourse, but how many factors are actually in my favour with regards to testing negative. I know it was just a dream, and probablybecause it has been constantly on my mind for4 days, but with some people, dreams are actually trying to tell them something, i just hope that isnt me.

Would there be any rapid tests available in Australia for recent exposures that would actually be accurate?

I went to the docs for a blood test yesterday (a little after 9 weeks post exposure), he also agrees with you guys and advised the risk was very low and advised me it was highly unlikely that I would have been infected with HIV.

Ok guys. Called the doctors office this morning to see if by any chance the results had come in, and yes, they came in. Receptionist says they usually only take 2 days but they tell patients to call a week later for whatever reason, maybe unexpected delays.

Negative, no infections found.

Obviously testing for HIV was my concern and after 9 weeks and 2 days after very brief unprotected sex with a girl, I have a negative result.

Now I am fully aware that testing @ 12 weeks is considered conclusive and that a 6 week test is a solid indicator, but I feel I should be okay testing and concluding a negative result @ just over 9 weeks.

I really do know what I need to do in future. Absolutely NO unprotected sex, I cant deal with the worry and stress after an unprotected episode.

You really should have read the Welcome Thread before posting like you're supposed to and if you had, you would have read the following posting guideline:

Quote

Do NOT use Private Messages to question other members about any transmission, testing or symptom issues. These issues must be discussed in the public forum. Misuse of the PM function in this manner will result in your PM privileges being removed without warning.

I have removed your PM privileges as you've been PMing poz members of these forums to ask their opinion over your risk and testing history. Next time you join a forum, I suggest you read and follow their rules.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

He didn't "dob you in". Your forbidden PM came to my attention because you asked questions the person wasn't totally confident answering and he was seeking advice on how to proceed. See, there are reasons why we have this rule in place.

And for the last time, I fully expect you to continue to test negative. I've yet to see a six week negative end up poz at three months, nevermind a nine week negative. Get busy with other things while you wait for your confirmatory three month test and the time will go quicker than you might imagine.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Well I had to go for my test today as I got accepted into the Defence Force, which requires mandatory blood testing, so this will be a 16 week post exposure test, thus conclusive. Everything should be ok as my 9 week test was neg.

If I dont get a call from the forces by mid next week, everything is likely fine, they said they will be sending a letter if tests come back fine,

Deep apologies for coming across as a tosser before hand, truly wasnt deliberate. Wish me luck, I shall let you all know.

Also, roughly weeks ago I had a minor chest infection. IF this was a seroconversion, is it unlikely that I would just be getting a mild chest infection, or does it generally come with the whole shebang?

I quit smoking approx 4 weeks before the infection, so it may have been quitters flu, or even the onset of winter, or the fact that my partner only a few weeks before that, had a chest infection, who knows.

Many have informed me not to worry, and that the risk itself was extremely minor, assuming she even had HIV. Do you guys agree?

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts